Over the last decade, pre-moistened towelettes have become a widely employed means for personal hygiene. Such towelettes are conventionally pre-moistened with any of a plurality of liquids which clean and may have antibacterial properties. Other such towelettes may be pre-moistened with skin softeners or medications for employment by a user in daily hygiene or medication purposes. Conventionally, moist towelettes are sold in containers which maintain the moist nature of the towelettes and provide an easy means to dispense individual towelettes.
In addition, hand sanitizers have also become a predominantly employed means for personal hygiene and sanitation. Hand sanitizers are often employed as a supplement or alternative to washing hands with soap and water. Sanitizers are typically a gel, foam or liquid dispensed conventionally through a pump dispensing unit or squeeze bottle providing easy and convenient means to sanitize hands. Recently, producers of hand sanitizers have begun combining the sanitizing solution with natural products and essential oils to provide moisture and conditioning to the user's skin to satisfy the ever growing skin care industry.
Personal hygiene, while in a bathroom, has become an ever more favored means of employment of such towelettes and hand sanitizers. Such towelette and hand sanitizers dispensers provide easy access of hygiene products to users in a bathroom while standing in front of the sink or bathroom counter on which the towelette container is supported. However, with bathroom counter top space becoming ever more crowded, it frequently becomes a choice of which hygiene appliance and which personal hygiene product is given counter space at the expense of other favored products.
Additionally, the toilet in modern bathrooms is frequently in a smaller room housed in the bathroom yet separated from the main area by a door and wall surrounding it. In such small areas, there is frequently no counter space provided at all because of the limited use of the room for its short term occupant. However, it is becoming more and more popular to employ towelettes as well as hand sanitizers solutions, in place of or along with toilet paper, in personal hygiene after using the toilet. This is especially true where the application of medications or moisturizers is required or desired to treat or comfort skin or other problems which may be causing discomfort for users of the toilet.
However, due to the limited space in the small area, and due to the proclivity of other users of a bathroom to remove additional hygiene products from the counter top, it becomes a vexing problem to provide such towelettes and hand sanitizers in a location proximate to the user of the toilet. This is especially true where multiple people may use the same toilet, but not all wish to use, or need, the towelettes or sanitizers subsequent to finishing up their stay on the toilet.
As such, there exists an unmet need for a container, or a mount for a container, that is positioned adjacent to a roll of toilet paper. Such a device should accommodate the needs of users of towelettes and hand sanitizers, yet not displace the roll of toilet paper that others may use or which may be employed in combination with towelettes.
Further, such a device should provide a means for engagement of a plurality of different types of towelettes for easy dispensing within arms reach of a toilet user.
Still further, such a device should provide means for engagement of other paper product rolls such as paper towels.
With respect to the above, before explaining at least one preferred embodiment of the towelette dispensing invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components or steps set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The various apparatus and methods of the invention are capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways which will be obvious to those skilled in the art once they review this disclosure. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein, are for the purpose of description, and should not be regarded as limiting in any manner.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the concept upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for designing of other devices for the dispensing of towelettes concurrently and proximate to the dispensing of toilet paper. It is important, therefore, that the objects of this invention, and claims herein, be regarded as including any such equivalent construction and methodology as would occur to those skilled in the art insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.